German police confirmed that 18 people died after a bus crashed into a truck and burst into flames on the A9 autobahn near Münchberg in Bavaria on Tuesday, July 3.
All of the dead were aged between 66 and 81.
46 passengers and two drivers were travelling on the bus. 3o people were injured, and were taken to hospital, some airlifted with serious injuries. Earlier, police said the 18 people unaccounted for were “probably killed in the burning coach.”.
EIL!! A9 – FR Süden komplett gesperrt- EIL!!
Unfall zw. Münchberg Süd und Gefrees. Reisebus ist in Vollbrand. Wird länger dauern. #BuBraMüb pic.twitter.com/fmjkoWnQ5c— Polizei Oberfranken (@PolizeiOFR) July 3, 2017
Shortly after 7am, the bus, which was travelling to Nuremberg, collided with a trailer in a traffic jam near a construction site and then caught fire, Die Welt reported.
Earlier, police said that 31 people were injured and 17 were missing. “We are realistic and will have several dead to report at the end of the day,” police spokesperson Jürgen Stadter told NTV.
Reisebus geht auf A9 bei #Münchberg in Flammen auf: Mehrere Menschen verletzt https://t.co/8cQjvtw2yi pic.twitter.com/Nvy5nk0b09
— BR24 (@BR24) July 3, 2017
Stadter said that there were elderly people on the bus, which was taking a tour group from Saxony on an excursion.
